Star Fox: Beginnings
by RedSoxfan15
Summary: After being exiled to the planet Venom for a crime that devastated Corneria City, former scientist Andross vows revenge on the Lylat System, while Fox McCloud, following in the footsteps of his father, sets out to avenge the death of a loved one at the hands of Andross, while also learning of his plan to wipeout the Lylat System in this re-imagining/origin tale STAR FOX BEGINNINGS.
1. The Originals

_Star Fox: Beginnings_

**Chapter 1: The Originals**

As the clouds subsided on a planet called Dayton, located in the Lylat System, a tam of mercenaries known as Star fox had engaged in battle with the forces of Dayton. Star Fox consisted of a fox named James McCloud, a rabbit named Peppy Hare, and a pig named Pigma Dengar. As they fought through the forces and made their way towards the base of a terrorist that had been threatening their home world, Corneria, a voice came over the comms system. Not a good time, since it was in the middle of a firefight.

"Star Fox!" came the voice. "Come in Star Fox! Do you read me?"

"We read you Pepper!" cried James, taking down an enemy ship and maneuvring out of the way of a charged shot.

"What is going on?'' the voice asked. The voice belonged to the Cornerian Defense Army Captain Pepper.

"We're in a firefight!" James yelled back. "Not a good time!"

"Watch your back, James!" screamed Peppy, taking out a ship that was about to obliterate James. "What have I told you about the barrel rolls?"

"Sorry Peppy," said James.

"Let's get the mission finished," said Pigma. He was killing everything in sight. A high price was in sight. "I want to go home and get that paycheck."

"Alright let's lock n' load," said James, and they fired at the next wave of enemies as they made their way to the base.

"How close are we to obtaining the bombs?" asked Pepper.

"Almost at the base," replied James.

In the control center back on Corneria where Captain Pepper was operating with his team, the most hated animal came into the room: The President of Corneria, Ronson Alpaca, an alpaca.

"Captain Pepper, what is going on?" he asked angrily. He looked at the radar screen that Pepper was looking at.

"Who is that? I did not authorize this!"

"They're my team, Alpaca," replied Pepper. "And I trust them to get the job done."

"What job? I didn't sign off on this! This can be flagged as code red, you know that Captain?"

"Nuclear bombs aimed at the planet that could strike us at any moment are a code red," said Pepper. it was clear that these two really butted heads on a daily basis. They really hated each other.

"Don't question my authority here, you stupid hound dog!" called Alpaca. "Pull them out! Abort the mission!"

"Continue on!" said Pepper.

"Uh Pepper," said Peppy. "We are at the base. And we are landing. Are we aborting or continuing?"

"Continue."

President Alpaca was furious now. Pepper was just a captain. He had no control over him.

"Get the defense forces in there! Get these whackjobs out of there."

"This is my team," said Pepper. "Trust me. Maybe if you hadn't cut off the supply route to Dayton, we wouldn't have been threatened."

"Do you know what it feels like to not be number one?"

"Landing on the base," said James through the comms system.

"If they gain supplies, their army will be bigger than ours, and it could lead to a hot war."

"What you have started here, Alpaca, has already led to a hot war," scolded Pepper. "Now trust my team."

The terrorist they were after, Bruin the Bear, a bear (obviously), had been looking out the window of his base and saw Star Fox.

"They're here for me!" he called to his troops. "Stop them! Make sure they don;t get to me! Unleash the mech robots!"

As Star Fox got out and stepped foot on the surface, they drew their blasters.

"Alright James," said Peppy. "You got a plan?"

"Kill him," said Pigma.

"We're not killing anyone," replied James. "Apprehend Bruin and retrieve the WMDs."

All of a sudden, from around the corner of the base, a giant mech robot (something that looked like it came out of Pacific Rim) appeared and began firing on them. The team ducked behind their Arwings, and began to fire their blasters, but to no avail.

"What are those things?" cried Pigma.

"There's no way we can fight it head on!" called James, firing off the last round of his blaster, and reloaded.

"We have to get back in?" cried Pigma. Now he was upset. But i was definitely worth the money.

"Get in the Arwings!" yelled Peppy. "Shoot at it as you do to weaken it."

The team did exactly as Peppy said, and got back in the Arwings and began to fire blasts from their blaster cannons at the robot.

"Damn, the blaster cannons are useless!" cried James, after finding out after the first few blasts that those were useless as well.

"Use the small bombs!" called Peppy.

The mech swung at them. He almost hit Pigma, and made a giant swing again, this time scraping Pigmas ship.

"Damn, I'm hit!"

"Take this, bitch," said James. He and Peppy shot sticky bombs onto it. The robot writhed and tried to jump to get the bomb off, but soon, it blew up, as metal and scrap iron were sent flying through the air.

"Alright," said Peppy. "Back to the landing zone. It's no longer full of hostiles."

"Affirmative," said James, and the team swooped down and swerved back to the LZ and got out the Arwings. As they were about to enter the base, Bruin's troops opened the door to the base and began to shoot at them as one of the troops pressed a button to close the door. The Star Fox team began to run towards the door, and as the door was closed, James jumped through the glass, and shot some of the troops down, while Peppy posted up at the side of the door and began picking off troops one by one. Pigma thought it wss wise to just fun full sprint into the battle, and took out the remaining troops, and the team entered the base, turned a corner and saw the control room up ahead where Bruin must ave been operating. They fought off more forces outside of Bruin's chambers, and as they entered, James pointed the blaster at him.

"Bruin!" he screamed. "You're under arrest."

Bruin kicked the gun out of James's paw, and punched him, and knocked both Peppy and Pigma to the ground with a punch to the gut and two kicks to the legs.

"Catch me if you can you cowards!" called Bruin, pressing a SELF-DESTRUCT button. As he ran off, the base began to blow, and the team got the most of the impact, as a desk in Bruin's chambers blew up. But James was determined. Though he had shards of glass in him, was bleeding from the snout and no longer had a weapon, he ran after Bruin, with Peppy and Pigma not far behind.

Bruin had made it outside, and pulled one his guards aside.

"Call the monorail. Get it down here now!"

The guard did not comply, and Bruin shot him dead. "Code red, this is Bruin. I need service down here right now."

James had made it outside, and Bruin looked back. There was nowhere he could go. He could either jump off the edge of the landing pad, wait for the monorail, or be arrested.

"Bruin!" called James.

Bruin put his arms up in the air. he had lost. Fair and square.

"Alright you silly fox," he said. "You got me."

James pulled out handcuffs and moved over to Bruins, but Bruin punched James again. Peppy and Pigma had made it outside, and from afar, peppy saw that Bruins and James were now engaged in a fistfight. He drew his blaster and aimed it in Bruin's direction. Then he pulled the trigger. Bruins was hit square in the shoulder, and fell to the ground. James put the handcuffs on him. Bruin sighed.

"Why don't you kill me?"

"I don't kill," said James. " The Cornerian government will decide your fate. Pepper, I got the bear."

"Well done James," said Pepper. Everyone in the control room started cheering, except Alpaca, who still wasn't pleased.

"What about the WMDs?"

"Peppy!" called James, pulling Bruin to his feet.

"Ow!" cried Bruin.

"Take the pain," said James. "Did you find the weapons?"

"I'm waiting on Pigma's response," said Peppy.

"I've ID'd the wepaons," came Pigma's voice over the transmission. "Mission accomplished."

"We found them sir," replied James. "Order whatever remaining forces you have to get to Dayton to obtain the weapons."

"Will do," said Pepper. "And James, bing him back in one piece. He has to stand trial." Pepper left the briefing room, but not before flipping Alpaca off. Alpaca was stunned. He left the briefing room, and Star Fox grabbed Bruins and brought him back to Corneria.


	2. On Trial

**Chapter 2: On Trial**

Bruin was brought back to Corneria to be trialed for treason, and about a week later, he saw the door to his solitary confinement cell open up. It was James McCloud.

"It's time," said James.

Bruin just laughed. "So i Am escorted to the courtroom by you," he said. "James McCloud."

"Let's go Bruin," said James. "On your feet."

Bruin sighed and got up onto his feet. "You're gonna have to release me from these chains."

James unlocked the cuffs and chains he was on, and dragged him out of the holding cell, and into the courtroom, where President Alpaca and Captain Pepper were waiting.

"Do you know why you are here?" asked Alpaca.

"No," replied Bruin half-heartedly.

"For the conspiracy of treason," replied Pepper, glancing across to James. "Also for the conspiracy to carry out a terrorist attack."

"A terrorist attack?" laughed Bruin. "You're too funny."

"Are you denying these allegations?" asked Alpaca.

"What do you think?" asked Bruin.

"Alright that'd enough!" cried Alpaca.

"What evidence do you have that incriminates me?" asked Bruin.

"We've retrieved your WMDs," replied Pepper.

"Oh," sighed Bruin. "Well then."

"Are you admitting to these allegations now?" asked Alpaca.

Bruin slammed his fists down on the table he was sitting in.

"You think I'm going to give in this easily?" he asked. "Shouldn't you know if I am behind these conspiracies? It's you who came after me."

"We'll get you to crack," said Pepper.

"Try me."

"You built the WMDs as a response to us cutting off a supply route to Dayton."

"It was so that Dayton would not become a superpower," confessed Alpaca. 'We didn't want you to create an army as big as ours. We felt that if another planet gained military forces as big as ours, it would lead to a hot war."

"Then that would no longer make Corneria the most powerful planet in the galaxy," laughed Bruin. "That was your whole plan? Can;t you see the flawed logic?"

"There is no flawed logic," said Pepper.

"Sure there is. It wouldn't lead to a hot war with every other planet. It would only lead to a hot war with Dayton.

"Alright!" cried Alpaca. "I've heard enough from this villainous scum!"

"Derogatory," replied Bruin snyly.

"No. Perfection. You will be sentenced to death at sundown. Any attempt to escape will be thwarted. Any misbehavior will result in a fatal beating before you're scheduled death appointment. Mr. McCloud." He signaled for James to hand him over to prison guards and they took him away.

"Sir," said James to Pepper. "Where are the WMDs now?"


	3. Andross

**Chapter 3: Andross**

Captain Pepper brought James to Hefflan Laboratories later that night.

"We need the best examination on these weapons that there is," explained Pepper as they were walking by many other scientists doing experiments. "And Hefflan Laboratories is just the right place for that."

"And why is that?" asked James.

"Hefflan Laboratories is home to some of the planet's best scientists," Pepper explained. "Maybe the best in the galaxy. It's a good thing you caught Bruin. We don't exactly know how catastrophic this attack could have been."

"You still didn't answer my question from earlier," said James. "Where are the WMDs?"

"There are in a vault in which are best scientist works near."

"And who might that be?"

They stopped in front of a monkey who had a white lab coat on, and a grizzly beard.

"James McCloud, meet our best scientist. Andross."

The monkey stopped what he was working on, which looked like the nuclear weapons to James, and held out his hand for James to shake. James reluctantly let out his paw, since he didn't know Andross, and shook his hand.

"Pleasure," said James.

"Same with you," said Andross.

"What is your area of expertise?" James asked.

"The environment," replied Andross. "So it may come as a surprise that Captain Pepper asked me to examine these." He pointed to the nukes, which were on his lab table. Captain Pepper's draw dropped.

"Good God!" he cried. "Why are they out of the vault?"

"You asked me to work on them for you," replied Andross.

"Captain, if his area is to help preserve and improve the environment, then why leave him with a task as daunting as this?" asked James.

"Andross is our best scientist," replied Pepper. "He even has a pres conference coming up tomorrow about his latest project."

"As do you, for promotion to General of the Cornerian Army," replied Andross.

"You do?" asked James. "I wasn't informed."

'That's because you are not part of the Cornerian Army," said Pepper rather jokingly. "Rather, you're just a mercenary for hire."

James smiled and laughed. "Well there's gotta be a party at least."

"Looks like he forgot to tell you that as well," said Andross.

James laughed again. "Well then," he said. "I'll grab the guys and Vixy, and I'll meet you there. Where is the party?"

"Town Square," replied Pepper.

"Gotchya," said James. "You going Andross?" he asked looking at Andross.

Andross had now forgotten all about his press conference tomorrow, because all of the attention had been pulled away from him and was now on General Pepper. He hesitated in answering the question, but finally.

"No," said Andross. "I would love to. But I have some things I have to take care of. And I think the newly promoted general over here would like the WMD situation investigated immediately."

"I'm not a general yet," said Pepper. "I'm still a captain.

"You're a general to me," said Andross. He walked up to Pepper and laid his hands on his shoulders. "Promise me you will show these people the good there is in the world."

"I shall," replied Pepper, and he and James left.

Later that night at the party, which Vixy Renard McCloud, James' wife, and their son, Fox, also got to go to, James and Peppy were at a table having a few drinks and talking. Pigma was also with them.

"That was a tough one, huh?" asked Peppy.

"Taking down a national terrorist?" said James. "The Cornerian Army couldn't have done it without us."

"I think we did it without them," chimed in Pigma.

James looked over and saw that Andross had indeed attended the now General Pepper's promotion party. Strange, since he stated he wasn't attending before.

"Hey," said James to Peppy and Pigma. "Is it just me or is that Andross scientist monkey kinda creepy?"

"Why would you say that?" asked Peppy.

"Well," replied James. He thought about the answer for a moment. "I feel like he followed me here."

"Don't be absurd," said Peppy. "Why would you think that?"

"Back at the lab he said he wasn't attending this party, but now he's here."

"Probably a last minute decision," said Pigma. "The government's probably paying him big to attend. Technically he does work for the government. I'd like to see that paycheck that Alpaca and Pepper are giving him for those nuclear weapons."

James just smiled, and a gave a hearty laugh. "Always money with you huh Pigma?"

Pigma just smiled. Peppy decided to out the icing on the conversation and ask everyone a question.

"So," said Peppy. "What does everyone plan on doing now that we caught the most dangerous terrorist?''

Pigma's jaw dropped and he turned and looked at Peppy in complete shock.

"What?" asked Peppy.

"You're not implying that we're splitting up, are you?" asked Pigma.

"It's not a bad idea," said James. "We really did just take down a terrorist illegally."

"Not really," replied Pigma. "We were under Pepper's orders."

"Yeah, and he hired us without President Alpaca's permission, which could be considered illegal."

"Well James does have a point Pigma," said Peppy. "And you have to consider the fact that we are getting older."

"You want to stop doing all of this because we are getting old?" cried Pigma. he felt insulted, but he wasn't completely outraged. As long as James said something clever he'd be happy. "How will I earn my money?"

Peppy sighed. "Can't we just do something for Corneria that doesn't involve money?"

"Money is everything," said Pigma. "It grows on trees. Without any paychecks, I will not be able to live."

"Another thing Pepper does illegally," said Peppy. "Illegally pay us for these missions."

"Can;t we get of the money and illegal stuff?" asked James. "I mean, if it means so much to you, Pigma, I think we have one last run in us."

Pigma's frown turned into a smile.

"Are you sure?" asked Peppy. "Didn't you say that this was the last mission?"

"I did. But what if something else arises?"

"What could possibly arise?" asked Peppy. "We took down the biggest terrorist known to the galaxy. Look at your son. He needs a father."

"I have one last mission in me," said James. "I promise, after that, I will retire from active duty. The time will come when I feel it is right."

"Well," said Peppy, sighing once more, "if that's your decision, then I respect it."

"Thank you," said James, getting up from the table and going onto the dance floor where Vixy and Fox were. Peppy and Pigma looked at each other.

"I don't think I've ever seen him that happy," said Peppy.

"I haven't," said Pigma, who rejected another drink when the bartender came over in order to save money.

James grabbed Vixy and began to dance with her.

"Hey you," he said.

"Hey you," she said. "Congratulations saving the galaxy again."

"DAD!" came a young fox's voice.

"Hey Fox! Come here big guy!" he scooped Fox up and began to dance with Fox. Across the room, Peppy and Pigma began cheering, along with Vixy, and the rest of the tavern began cheering as well. Andross did as well, but stopped before anyone else, as he felt a feeling of jealousy, as he really liked Vixy, and couldn't have her. He felt as if he was alone and unloved.


	4. Project Joystick

**Chapter 4: Project Joystick**

Andross arrived back at the labs and had forgotten that he had a press conference the next morning. He worked on the projects he was set to unveil for an hour, and then left. The next day, he woke up bright and early and arrived at Hefflan Labs where reporters had already gathered. As Andross got out of his car, he stared at them, giving them an evil eye, and headed inside to prepare for the press conference. The time finally came for the press conference to begin, and the reporters wee finally allowed inside, and Andross revealed himself to the reporters after a five minute delay. As Andross's name was announced by one of the lead scientists, the reporters applauded.

"Thank you. Thank you for coming," said Andross. "Now you are probably wondering why you are all here. I believe I have discovered the next big breakthrough in science that could help us preserve a precious, valuable natural resource here on Corneria. We all need water to survive, and with the water supply running low, I decided to take it upon myself to do whatever necessary to preserve water life here on Corneria, which is why you are all here. I have a solution. Ladies and gentlemen, animals of all kind, may I present: the Spark."

Andross pulled a cloth off of a huge cube, and showed it off to the audience.

"This is our answer to preserving water life."

"And exactly how would the Spark preserve the life?" asked a reporter.

"It's a complicated process," explained Andross. "There is a trigger on the back of the Spark cube, and when that trigger is pulled, a cloud will form full of water vapor, and eventually freeze to become ice. Then, you press this button to warm the ice and turn it into water. Thousands of duplicates will be made and placed throughout the city for one's conveniance."

"I think that is a little unrealistic," said another reporter.

"This is science," explained Andross. "It's supposed to be unrealistic."

"Doctor Andross," said a third reporter, "is it true that you have been put in charge of investigating the nuclear weapons that were recently recovered from Bruin's lair on Dayton."

Andross really did not want to talk about this. He should have told the reporters before the reveal that he would not be accepting any questions about the WMDs. But it was too late, and now, he felt obligated to answer the questions related to them.

"Yes I have," he replied.

"Is there any conclusive evidence as to what the WMDs contained?"

Andross sighed. "The weapons have been examined, but not thoroughly," he replied. "Based on experiments and data from what I have recovered and examined, I believe there to be a poison that was shot into them. From my understanding, if these weapons were in fact detonated on Corneria, the blast radius would've wiped out the whole city, with the poison being released and spreading through the streets. But like I said, I haven't had the time to examine them thoroughly. I still need to run multiple tests and data scans to be accurate about my hypothesis. Are there any more questions?"

A reporter raised her paw. She was a hound dog, with long ears, similar to that of General Pepper. "What may I ask is that?" She pointed to a device that was sitting on a lab table. It looked like a stick, and it was silver. Andross gave her a glaring look.

"That is the blueprint for the project I am working on next. I like to call this project: Project Joystick."

"Are you working on this project instead of examining the WMDs?"

"The WMDs come first, but I can't work on those all of the time. I have other ideas I need to get out here."

"Well then, what is the basis for Project Joystick?"

"Project Joystick will not be involved with the ecosystem," Andross announced. "Instead, Joystick is designed for our troops." He pressed a button on the hilt and out popped a needle. The reporters oohed. They were shocked.

"Pharmecuticals? It's a drug?"

"It's not really a drug," said Andross. "More like a vaccine. A nero toxin that will be injected into the veins of troops coming back from battle."

"What does it do?"

"It relieves our troops of post-traumatic stress and short-term memory. Another side effect can also give them more bulk, therefore making them stronger."

"You think this will be beneficial?"

Andross sighed and looked at the other Joystick copy he had made. It was a different design than this one. He had gone through many different designs and ideas before settling on this.

"I think it will be very beneficial," he replied. "But, this is ready to be released. After full examination of the WMDs, and the release of the Spark, this will be the next thing to revolutionize the world." He smiled slyly at the reporters.


	5. Jealous As Can Be

**Chapter 5: Jealous As Can Be**

Later that night, after the press conference, Andross had continued examination of the WMDs, since they were considered a top priority for government officials and reporters. After time and careful examination, he called General Pepper.

"General?" he said. "You may want to get down here. Bring that team of yours that discovered this nuclear threat."

General Pepper then arrived at Hefflan Labs, looking concerned.

"You have conclusive evidence, Andross?" he asked, getting out of his car and walking towards the front door of the labs.

"Very conclusive," said Andross. They walked back inside and to Andross's lab station. "I ran some tests. As I had told reporters earlier this evening, there was a poison injected into the WMDs so that when the blast hit, the poison would ran down on Corneria, killing everything, just as I hypothesized."

"How did you run these tests so soon?" asked Pepper. "Doesn't it take days, even weeks, to determine something of as big of a magnitude as this?"

"Pepper, I'm the smartest and most trusted scientist here," replied Andross. "I worked non-stop from the time the reporters left until the time I called you and you showed up. Did you call in your team?"

"They're on their way," said Pepper.

Three futuristic cars made their way towards Hefflan Labs, since flying Arwings was only permitted for Air Force flying use only. And in the case of Star Fox, missions assigned to you by General Pepper. The three cars raced and sped along the long winding roads of the streets of Corneria, careful not to scare or hit any civilians that may have been roaming about on the streets. Just outside the labs there was a parking lot, and the three parked their cars and got out. It was the Star Fox team. James McCloud led his team into the abs to meet with General Pepper and Andross.

"You called for us, General," said James.

"Ah yes," said Pepper. "I'm sure you remember Andross."

James knew that this monkey seemed a bit awkward. At least that's how he acted at Pepper's promotion party. But he wasn't going to let that distract him. If Pepper had called him here, it surely meant business.

"Pleasure to see you again," said James to Andross.

"Same with you," Andross shot back.

"So," said Peppy. "What's the news? What's important?"

"I better be getting my money's worth for this," said Pigma.

"Pigma, enough with the money," said Peppy. "This isn't a mission. We're here for a reason. Now please, listen."

Andross sighed. "Thank you, Peppy," he said. "Now as I had hypothesized during my press conference, I stated that the WMDs had poison injected into them that had the potential of wiping out the city. Turns out, I was right."

The Star Fox team sighed. They were shocked.

"Andross, you can't be serious," said James.

"I wouldn't lie about this James," said Andross. "This is the real deal. Now I am working on a solution. A powerful, duplicate of the poison just to double check my work. I always double check. Makes me feel more sure about what I am doing."

"How long will the duplicate take to make?" asked Peppy.

"I'm not sure," replied Andross. "It's a complicated substance to replicate. Once I acquire all the ingredients that are necessary and run another test to make sure my first test was correct, then I'll know for sure."

"Ok then," said Pepper. "I think we all had better leave. We;re wasting Andross's valuable time here."

The team left, with General Pepper taking off in his car first, followed by Pigma, and then Peppy. As James got into his car, Andross looked out the window of the lab and saw James's wife, Vixy get out of the had been called by Pepper in the middle of a shopping spree that would have ended in dinner, but James insisted that that he had to talk to Pepper since it was urgent, and that their date night would continue. Andross's eyes were fixated on her as she walked over to James and said something to James that Andross found to be incomprehensible, and then saw James kiss Vixy. Andross's eyebrows widened, and then a look of jealousy spread across his face. For he had loved Vixy. He didn't know what it was about her. But he had loved her since the first time he laid eyes on her. Pepper's party. He hated how he was alone with no one to love. He wanted her. He was infatuated with her. Andross then angrily pulled himself away from the window as James's car pulled away and took off down the street and out of sight. He then began conducting an experiment that was totally unrelated to anything he was working on. He had grabbed a whole bunch of wiring and a new cell phone that had never been opened, and took the circuit board out of it, and connected it to the wires. But then he put everything down.

_Am I going crazy? _he thought to himself. _Surely I can't build this. I've only seen her once. How can I love someone I've never actually talked to?_

He grabbed his jacket and closed up shop for the night, and took a drive to downtown Corneria for a bite to eat, and walked down the main street of Corneria, looking for something to eat. He finally saw a burger joint across the street, and decided to go there. As he looked across the street for oncoming cars, he then looked in the restaurant next to the burger joint. Vixy was in there, wearing an elogant white dress that would only fit on an type of dog. Then, he saw James. he stopped dead in his tracks outside the restaurant window, and James had turned his head. His snout had almost pressed up against the glass of the window, and he waved to Andross. Andross barely raised his hand to wave, and immediately went into the back alley and began to cry and lightening struck and it had begun to rain.

One fine sunny day the next week, Vixy was getting ready for a day out. Her car was in th shop being repaired, and James was home with Fox for the day, making sure he stayed out of trouble. He was taking some much needed time off.

"My car is in the shop," she told him. "You don't plan on taking Fox anywhere do you?"

"Possibly to the museum," said James. "If you need the car, you van take it. We can take the monorail. Plus, even if we decide against that, we can walk. Everything is within walking distance."

"I'm just running to the store," Vixy said. "Do you need anything?"

"Fox could use some more apple juice," said James. "And popcorn. For a fox, he loves popcorn."

Vixy shook her head and took off for the front door of their apartment.

"Vixy," said James, getting up from the armchair that was in the middle of the room. "Please, be careful."

"You don't have to worry. I'll be fine." And she opened the door and took off. James heard the car door open, but had a sinking feeling deep inside. What if Bruin had a protege he had trained to take over his reign? What if this apprentice was targeting the McCloud family? Would James be assassinated? He quickly put the newspaper down that he was reading and bolted for the door.

"Vixy, VIXY!" he screamed, running down the stairs in complete panic. As he opened the door to the outside, he found that Vixy had not yet left. But he heard the sound of an engine start.

"Vixy no!" he cried. As the engine started, the car burst into flames, and blew up in the parking lot, sending James flying backwards. Across the street from the parking lot, was Andross, horrified at what had just happened. James began to cry, and collapsed at the sight of seeing Vixy's burning body engulfed in flames. She was trapped. There was no way to get her out. The hood of the car had fallen on her lap upon exploding, and had broken her legs. James cried and cried as government officials, fire crews, police squadrons, air force officers, President Alpaca and Pepper had arrived, with various news stations arriving at the scene.

"There are no known witnesses to have seen what could have caused such a devastating explosion," said a reporter on live TV. "The blast seemed to be triggered as the engine was started. Whether or not the engine was tampered with will be known throughout an investigation."

"Our best law enforcement investigators and officers will work tirelessly to bring those responsible to justice," proclaimed Alpaca. "A senseless act of terror like this should never be committed."

"As for James McCloud," the reporter continued, "there is belief that this was part of an assassination attempt on his life after his team emerged victorious on the planet of Dayton, where renowned terrorist Bruin the Bear was apprehended for treason and conspiracy to commit terror on Corneria. The investigation into the matter will begin immediately."


	6. Funeral Pyre

**Chapter 6: Funeral Pyre**

Vixy's funeral was held a few days later at the Cornerian Memorial Cemetary. James's good friends, such as Peppy, Pigma, and Pepper were gathered there, along with Andross.

"Sorry for your loss," said Peppy, shaking James and Fox's paws when all was said and done.

"Sorry," said Pigma. "Both of you."

Fox couldn't stop crying. he knew that he eventually would have to but he couldn't. General Pepper was next in line to shake their paws. he offered his condolences to James, but knelt down beside Fox.

"Why do you cry Fox?" he asked.

"Because of my mother," replied Fox. "She's dead now."

"Let her soul rest in peace. She's in a better place."

"Don't insult my intelligence," said Fox, but began to cry harder and eventually forgot what Pepper had just said and leaped into his arms for a great, big hug.

"I want her back," Fox sobbed. "Please promise something."

"Anything big guy."

"Keep my father safe."

General Pepper nodded his head. "I will. You will not have the misfortune of losing two parents." He gave Fox another hug and left. Up next in line, the only other witness to Vixy's accident other than James, was Andross himself. He approached James and had a very saddened look on his face. But James didn't seem to pleased to see him. It seemed that Andross was everywhere he was. And it was tarting to get a little creepy.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Andross.

"Paying my respects," said Andross.

"You're not following me are you?" asked James.

"Of course not,'' replied Andross. "Why would you think such a thing?"

"I don't know. Foolish of me. Thank you for coming. It means a lot."

"No problem. Unfortunately, I can't take up any more time. I have to get back to labs and work on my projects. I'm sorry for your loss." And he left.

At Hefflan labs, Andross began conducting more work on Spark and Joystick. He then received an unexpected knock at his lab door. He stopped what he was doing and opened the door. It was James.

"James?" he asked. "What the hell are you doing here?"

James had a stern look on his face. Andross knew this must be important.

"I want you to go to the accident scene," he said to Andross.

Andross was shocked. Him? What was he? A police officer?

"What do you want me to do there?" he asked James.

"I want you to go undercover and pretend you are a private investigator hired by Pepper to examine the car and determine what caused the car to blow up."

"I can't do that," replied Andross. "I have projects here that I have to work on and I cannot fall behind on them. Spark needs to be completed soon. Plus, I' am not a law enforcement officer."

James had grown angry. Maybe it was because of the fact that his wife had died. But for whatever reason, a new side of James was unleashed.

"GOOOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed.

"I will not," said Andross. "I AM NOT A COP!"

James then tackled him onto his lab table and the two began punching each other, with Spark being destroyed in the process.

"Get...off...of...me!" cried Andross, and he flung James through the glass wall of the labs. James had shards of glass in him, and got up, weakened and injured and began crying. Andross then ran over to him to see if he was okay, as he he knelt beside James, James just hugged him.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed into Andross's monkey body. "I'm just... I can't live without her."

Andross soothed James, and escorted him out of the labs safely, taking him to the hospital. After he was told that James would be okay and would only require stitches and not surgery, he smiled at the doctor and made his way back to Hefflan Labs. Since Spark was now destroyed, he had to start over. So he began again, and worked almost all the rest of the day, and had nearly half of Spark done. He decided that it was time to leave for the night. It was late, and he had worked extensively to get Spark back up and running to the point the old Spark used to. As he was about to leave, he all of a sudden felt himself snap inside. His sanity took a turn for the worse. As he was turning off the lights to his lab, he began to hear voices. They were coming from inside his head.

"Hello?" he said. Nothing. he opened the door and heard them again. he closed the door and looked around his lab station.

"Who's there?" he asked.

"You know what you did," came the voice. "Deep sown inside, you wanted her all for yourself. You wanted her, so it was your desire to kill him."

"What?" he cried. he had to be going insane. "I didn't kill anyone."

"You killed her. You cold-blooded murderer! You will rot in a jail cell while you think of ways to kill yourself to be with her."

"That's not true!'" cried Andross. "I don't know who you are, but get out of my head. You're wrong about everything!"

"Of course he's wrong," came a second voice. "Vixy was the love of your life. The first time you laid eyes on her, you knew right then and there that you were in love. Killing McCloud was the only way."

"WHO ARE YOU?" stammered Andross.

"You will live have to live with this forever," came the first voice.

"You can forget it by becoming the most powerful animal in the galaxy," came the second voice. "Besides, you became a terrorist in a matter of seconds."

Andross turned the lights back on and fell to the floor, knocking some beakers and test tubes off his work bench. They fell to the floor and broke.

"I didn't make a bomb and try to kill James. I would never do such a thing."

"Don't lie!" came the second voice. "It was you. Admit it."

"UUUUAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" cried Andross, letting out a maniacal scream. He knew it had done it. Deep down inside he was a murderer. He was going mad. From that point on, his personality then changed. With the angriest eyes, he looked up towards his work bench and saw what he had done with Spark so far. He then worked tirelessly through the night, and made major modifications to the project. He began talking to himself, acting as if he was in a movie. In fact, he was talking to the voices her heard in his head. As Andross was about to put the finishing touches on a newly improved Spark the next morning, General Pepper came knocking. Andross's evil looking angry immediately went away, and he opened the door to the lab and let Pepper in.

"You're here early," said Pepper.

"Yeah, well, I wanted to get as much done on Spark as I possibly could," replied Andross.

"Looks like it is coming along great, monkey."

"What are you doing here, general?" asked Andross. He was upset that Pepper had showed up unannounced, and wanted him to leave.

"I just have some questions for you," said Pepper.

"About what?"

"The death of Vixy Reinard McCloud?"

"Am I a suspect?" Andross's tone of voice across as rough. He had gone from a mild mannered monkey to an angry, rough, maddened monkey overnight.

"Do you know anything about the car bomb?"

"If I did, don't you think i would have let law enforcement know by now?" said Andross angrily. "Please don't talk to me like I'm stupid!"

He then began to cry, and broke down onto the floor in tears. Pepper was confused.

"Andross?"

"It was me," wept Andross. He sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. Pepper couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You? Andross, are you mad?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," he sobbed again. "It was me. I made the bomb, and placed it under James McCloud's car in an effort to kill him. It was all because I loved Vixy. I wish I could've been more powerful, and I felt this was the only way to do it."

General Pepper could not believe what he had just heard. But he had an idea. he was going to make a deal with Andross.

"I can't believe you would do anything like that!" cried Pepper. 'And to think we trusted you! What do I tell Alpaca? That our best scientist is now a mad man who could possibly be a terrorist threat?"

"If you have to arrest me, go ahead and do it."

Pepper sighed. "I'm not going to arrest you. I can't. there's no conclusive evidence."

"But I confessed."

"I'm not going to arrest you Andross. But I must insist that all of your research be terminated. The citizens are now in grave danger thanks to your heinous act. how do i know you didn't modify Spark to become a nuclear weapon?"

"I didn't."

"I would like to believe you, but for the sake of national security, I can't. I'm sorry Andross. Spark and Joystick are dead from here on out. You must terminate the projects immediately in order to protect the citizens of Corneria."

Andross was now furious. "I refuse."

"What did you just say?"

"You have no authority over me, general. I am a government official, so I am just as high up as you are on the list."

"Titles can be revoked, Andross."

"You can't terminate my projects. You have no idea how beneficial they will be for Corneria."

"Beneficial?" cried Pepper. "You killed someone's wife. You think that that is beneficial? SOunds more like murder to me."

"Somehow I've gotten away with murder. One day, I will be the greatest leader of Corneria thanks to Spark."

"Your lust for power has driven you to the brink of madness."

"Your cowardice has driven me to the brink of sanity."

"You think you're sane? This is not normal. Snap out of it, monkey."

"Oh no. I think I finally know who I am. This is what I am destined to become. I bet young Dash will soon follow in his grandfather's footsteps. Just wait. This whole planet will benefit under my reign."

"You think you're a king now?"

"I am king. I'm your boss now, pretty boy."

"You will never rise through the ranks of great Cornerian leaders," said Pepper. "This ends this conversation." he turned on his hindlegs and walked out the lab, infuriated. As he left, Andross flipped him the finger to show him how much he hated him. Right away, he got underway on making his final modifications to Spark, modifications that totally changed the project.


	7. Nerve Gas

**Chapter 7: Nerve Gas**

It was some days later, and it was a sunny day in Corneria City. Corneria City was holding it's annual circus, and the city's baseball team was in the playoffs. The two events always coincided with each other, with the circus acting as a rally cry for the team's fans. It was game one of a best of five series for the Corneria City River Lizards, and everyone was enjoying the circus. Many had already entered the stadium to watch batting practice. The highest ranking government official were in charge of the circus and had press box seats for the game. However, one of the highest ranking government officials, General Pepper, was not in attendance at either event. he was monitoring the events from the security room at the Defense Base, acting as leader of Corneria while President Alpaca took this time to enjoy the circus and attend the game.

"How are we doing on this monitor?" Pepper asked a security officer watching one of the many security cameras that were placed at the circus and stadium.

"Nothing to report sir."

"How about you?"

"Nothing sir."

"Keep a close eye on those feeds gentlemen," said Pepper. "We may have nothing yet but for all we know we could catch someone doing something."

"Sir, you really think someone would try and bomb Olympic Stadium?"

"You do realize that WMDs were just apprehended from the biggest terrorist in the galaxy, right?" Pepper asked the smarty pants security officer. "He probably has accomplices, or apprentices. Someone willing to step up and take the reigns from. So no more smart-ass remarks. We need to monitor the situation very carefully."

A few minutes of live feeds from the circus and stadium had passed on the security cameras when all of a sudden, a security guard caught something suspicious on his monitor.

"Sir," he said. "I think you should look at this."

Pepper paced back and forth through the room. When the security guard called him over, he arrived by the guard's side in about a split second.

"What do you have?" asked Pepper.

"It looks like a UFO." The guard was using a cursor on the monitor to point out the object. "What is that?"

"It looks like a cube," said another guard. "A flying cube."

"Indeed it is a cube," said Pepper. "But what is it? And what is it doing there?"

The cube had flown above the circus, then hovered, and finally slowed down and made its way through the now suspicious River Lizards fans. The fans watched, many with the mouths, snouts, and whatever else they may have for a mouth since they're animals, open. The cube stopped dead in midair in the center of the circus. All of a sudden from a distance, an explosion was heard. Olympic Stadium had blown up, with Alpaca in there watching batting practice. He was dead. Everyone started to run for cover. The cube followed almost everyone, and opened a tube that sprayed out what looked like rain.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Pepper.

"Sir, the stadium has just been bombed," called a guard."

"You gotta be shitting me!" cried Pepper, running over to the guard.

"And you didn't catch this?"

"No I saw it."

"Then why didn't you say something?"

The guard stood dead in fear. he had no answer for Pepper. Either that or he was too afraid to tell Pepper.

"Ground support1 Come in ground support!" called Pepper through his comms device. No answer.

"Why won't they answer?"

The reason they weren't answering is because the substance that looked like rain was in fact a toxic nerve gas, and it had fallen on hundreds of citizens by now. The citizens fell to the ground and were immediately dead. Other had ran for cover to avoid the cube, but the cube kept following them around and raining the nerve gas upon them. By the time the remaining survivors had fled, thousands of citizens were dead. General Pepper put his head down in disbelief, knowing this had been a collective failure. His heart had sank into his stomach. As he watched a screen, he then recognized what the cube was.

"No," he said to himself, and bolted out the door of the security room. In the lobby, he then made a call.

James McCloud had Peppy and Pigma over, trying to comfort Fox, who was still struggling with the fact that he had lost his mother.

"Fox, you need to get over it," said James. "Everything happens for a reason. This was something you couldn't control."

Peppy was then receiving a signal on his comms device.

"Who's that?" asked Pigma.

"Pepper," replied Pigma. "He wants us meet him right away. Bring hazardous material suits as well."

"Oh, this can't be good," said James.

The team had arrived at the crime scene, very disturbed and shocked at what they were seeing. They had their hazmat suits on, and got out of their cars. They had then inspected the crime scene, looking at all of the dead bodies.

"The stadium has been blown up," said Peppy. "Looks like the work of a Bruin accomplice."

"What with all of the dead bodies?" asked Pigma.

"Radiation poisoning maybe?" asked James. "It could have been from the blast."

"A blast radius can't kill thousands of civilians, James," stated Peppy.

"Well, how big was the blast?"

"I don't know. It's very hard to tell."

"General Pepper should have known to employ us here."

"Yeah but think," said Pigma. "We would be just like all of them." He was pointing to the dead bodies. "We would be dead. And then we wouldn't get our money because we would be dead."

"Where is General Pepper anyways?" asked James. "I would think that Andross would be down here. He would know exactly what happened."

"Maybe Pepper's at Hefflan Labs," said Peppy.

"Let's head there then," said James. "I don't think there's really anything we can do here. We need homeland security agents and detectives from the police force here at once. Call them in, Peppy."


	8. Death By Exile

**Chapter 8: Death By Exile**

The team had soon arrived at Hefflan Labs, gotten out of their cars, and opened the main door to the laboratory, with their pistols drawn. They made their way through the lobby, and down the stairs to where the labs were. Andross had to be in there somewhere. Then, they heard a scream. James clenched his paw and made a fist, raising it to the air to tell Peppy and Pigma, who were behind him, to stop.

"Why are we stopping?" whispered Pigma.

"Shhh!" cried James. "Follow me."

The two followed him into the laboratory area where they entered the main lab room.

"Andross?" called James. "Pepper?"

"James?" came a familiar voice.

The team followed the voice and found Pepper next to a radiation shower.

"Pepper," said James. "Where is he?"

Pepper pointed to the shower.

"Is he the one responsible?"

"All indications point to him," said Pepper. "The gas did come from the cube."

James knocked on the glass door to the shower.

"Since when do monkeys like showers?" asked Pigma.

"Andross?" came James's voice. "Andross?"

He opened the doors and hopped in, tapping Andross. Andross growled.

"Whoa!" cried James and backed out of the shower.

"Have you come to arrest me?" asked Andross, in a deeper, more evil voice than the team had known him to speak in.

"Was it you?"

"Was what me?" asked Andross. The water from the shower flowed down his head.

"The attack. The stadium."

"Of course it was me," replied Andross, cooly admitting his guilt.

"Of course it was," replied James. "Spark wasn't a device meant to contain water was it? And if it ever was, you modified''

"Ding ding ding," said Andross.

James pulled out handcuffs, and moved towards Andross. "Alright monkey brains, you're under arrest."

Andross then punched James. "YOU CAN'T ARREST ME!" he cried, and tried to make a run for the door.

"I got him," said Peppy, and shot Andross in the back with a tranquilizer dart.

"Why didn't you just shoot him?" asked Pigma.

"I did."

"No, with like, uh, a regular bullet?"

"Because what if it killed him?"

"Who cares if it killed him? He's a criminal."

"Who must stand trial," said Pepper, helping James up and bringing him over to the team. "Load him into the truck outside and bring him to the courtroom."

"Yes sir," said Peppy and Pigma. James realized something he never thought of before.

He now knew who the mastermind was that killed his wife. He realized that Andross had been infatuated with Vixy, but couldn't have her because she was married to James. Andross had then been driven to the brink of insanity for his feelings over her that the only way to get Vixy was to kill James. He built a bomb and strategically placed it under James' car to kill him, but the explosion killed Vixy instead of James because Vixy needed James' car that day.

"That little son of a bitch!" he screamed, running after Pigma and Peppy.

"James get... ugh!" cried Pepper.

As Peppy and Pigma were loading Andross onto the truck, James came running towards them, pistol in his hand aimed at Andross, ready to shoot. Peppy grabbed him before he could do anything to harm Andross.

"No, no!" cried Peppy. "He must stand trial!"

"He killed my wife!"

"And now you think that the best think to do is to get revenge by killing him? That's not you. If there's one thing I know about you it's that you're not a killer, James."

"You're right," said James softly. "I'm sorry."

"Now I will trust that Pepper will be notified that he was the one responsible, and that he will be charged for the death of your wife in addition to today's events."

"That would help," replied James.

"Good. Get in the truck. We're going to the courtroom."

At the Corneria City Courthouse, James had already made his way inside, as General Pepper made his way to the judge's stand, acting as judge to the trial in wake of the president's death.

"You knew didn't you?" asked James, as Pepper was about to sit down. "That he killed her?"

Pepper sighed and walked over to him. "I did, yes," he confessed.

"Why did you do nothing?" asked James. "He confessed to you."

"That wasn't enough evidence," said Pepper. "I thought it was an accident. I had no idea that he was going to turn into a monster. But once the attack happened at the stadium, my suspicions rose. I had given him the chance to redeem himself and he blew it."

James shook his head.

"You seem to be okay with me telling you this," said Pepper.

"Well I can't be mad all of the time. Deep down inside I am, but I trust you kept it from me for a reason."

"Yes I did," said Pepper. "We need to get on trial."

"Go for it," replied James.

Pepper ran back to his seat and sat down. "Bring him in!" he called.

Three Cornerian guards opened the doors and entered the courtroom, followed by Pigma and Peppy, who were dragging a chained, resisting Andross across the floor, with two more guards following. It was a struggle to force Andross to sit, but the guards finally got him to sit by whipping him in the legs with their batons.

"Ow," said Andross sarcastically. "You know, you should really learn how to treat your guests, Pepper."

"You're not a guest," replied Pepper sternly.

Andross showed him his handcuffs. "I'm here. Against my will. And Shackled. I'm clearly your guest. I want a lawyer."

"You don't get a lawyer."

"But I'm innocent."

"Don't play dumb with me. You confessed."

"Oh shit. That's right. I did. I was playing a little mind game with you. You passed the test."

"Can we get on with the court proceeding?"

"Charges?"

"I don't think i need to tell you the charges."

"I want to know."

"You already know."

"I WANT TO HEAR YOU SAY THEM!" Andross screamed.

Clearly Pepper was infuriated. But, since Andross demanded such, he went ahead and announced them.

"You have been charged with countless acts of murder, conspiracy to commit assassination, and the murder of Vixy Reinard McCloud. You will be sentenced to exile on the planet Venom, where we will never hear from you again, where you will have the time to think about your actions, and where you will be left to die. Take him away."

"Left to die? I'm not dying!" screamed Andross as he was being dragged out of the courtroom. "You can't exile me! I can't die! I will not die! Your head is mine Pepper! YOUR HEAD IS MINE!" he screamed, being dragged out of the courtroom.

"Go on! Go!" cried Pepper. "Get him out of here!"

As James watched Andross being dragged out of the courtroom, General Pepper laughed off the whole incident.

"I WILL GET MY REVENGE!" Andross was heard screaming again.

"No death penalty?" James asked Pepper.

"James I know you wanted to see him be put to death," Pepper explained. "Venom is a desolate planet, a baron wasteland with acidic oceans. He's never welcomed back."

"You sent him there to die."

"No I sent him there for exile. But in time, yes, he will die there. I don't think he will last a single day without being swallowed up by the atmosphere. it's nearly unbreathable. It's a dark place, with barely any light seeping through the sky. The low amount of oxygen should kill him."

The guards had taken Andross to Venom, with Peppy and Pigma accompanying them. They landed on the rocky surface of Venom, and threw Andross out of the transporter ship. From the second Andross stepped foot on the surface, he couldn't breathe.

"Can't breathe huh?" asked Pigma. "Maybe you could go drown in the firs of the volcano over there."

"That's enough Pigma," said Peppy. "Close the door. We can't let any of the air onto the transporter." And the transporter took off. Andross was left to his own devices.


	9. EAGLE

**Chapter 9: E.A.G.L.E.**

James had been sitting in Pepper's office, as James was to receive the team's paychecks for the previous mission.

"Did the thought of Andross escaping custody ever cross your mind?" asked James.

Pepper looked up from his desk. He was signing the checks. "Of course it did," he replied. "I think we got to him too quickly for him to devise an escape plan though."

"And what about Spark? And the other projects he was working on?"

"Spark has been ordered to be destroyed. As for Joystick, I have acquired it and have kept it in my safe. I want to examine it myself. i think there's something more to it than helping troops in battle."

"Just be careful with it," said James.

"I will be. Here you are." He handed James a check. "Give these to Peppy and Pigma as well. They're for the Bruin capture and the Andross capture. I've paid each of you double for your efforts."

"Is this legal what you are doing?"

"Is what legal?"

"Going behind the government's back and hiring us to take down a terrorist and capturing a psychopath?"

"No actually it is not. The armed forces were not ready to undertake a mission because of a recall on the Arwings. The G-diffuser systems haven't been working properly, so that's why I called you in. But, Alpaca wasn't happy as he believed we could have a few forces fly the prototype Arwing model that is due out in the next five years, but that was not finished, so I had no choice. I was afraid the Bruin was going to attack, and Alpaca would not attack until we were attacked. The benefit of being a high ranking official like me is executing E.A.G.L.E."

"What's E.A.G.L.E?" asked James.

"It's a dossier, a government op given to high ranking government officials to impose an order not granted by the posted laws in the Cornerian Law Enforcement guide. It stand for Executed Acts Granted Lawful Enforcement. With my power, I was able to higher you and the rest of your team while we sorted out the Arwing problem, but like I said, Alpaca wasn't a fan. It was something I did in secret. I didn't want anyone to know I had sent a group of mercenaries behind enemy lines."

"You didn't get caught?"

"We don't have to sign off on it, or have the court judges agree to it. The power to impose such acts rests with us, and the power to use them is ours freely. We do not need two-thirds vote or a signed contract stating we have enforced these acts."

"But when we arrived back, everyone cheered for us," said James. "Don't they know now?"

"They have the right to know now. E.A.G.L.E. is a right granted to me."

James just smiled.

"I think your team should be back from Venom any second now. Why don't you go and enjoy yourselves, and don't forget to give them those Fox. I need them deposited almost right away. I can't have Pigma wait two weeks to deposit his check."

"Yes sir," said James, getting up from the chair he was in, and walked out of Pepper's office.

Meanwhile, back on Venom, Andross had wiped the sweat from his head as he made his way towards a deserted city in the middle of Venom, in which a volcano had been behind, and an acidic ocean ran along the side of the city. When he entered the outskirts of the city, he discovered a base, a base that was underground, and decided to explore it. He made his way through what seemed like sewers and wiped the cobwebs out of the way. He explored and ventured further deeper into the cave like sewer and came across a living organism. He shined his flashlight on it, and it moaned.

"Put that light out!" it moaned, in a deep, husky voice.

Andross touched its skin. It was the skin of a reptile. A lizard. But it didn't look like a lizard.

"What are you?" asked Andross.

"I'm a lizard," it replied. "What do I look like to you?"

"Not a lizard. You resemble something like a human being, an alien from another system in space."

"I'm not those human alien creatures," said the lizard.

"What are you doing down here?" asked Andross.

"The city has gone to ruins," the humanoid lizard explained. "After the eruption of the volcano, the city was destroyed, and it turned the water of the ocean into acid. it polluted the air that with almost every breath you take you inhale the smell of the volcano."

"That's why this place is so dangerous."

"Be careful of the air. It's toxic. it could be deadly, or worse fatal. That's why I've been down here for the last 18 years."

"This happened 18 years ago."

"Yep. Why are you here?"

"I almost destroyed Corneria. For a good reason. Those stupid officers of the law thought it would be wise to exile me here to think about my actions instead of killing me. Although I am treating this like a death sentence. I don't think there's ever a chance that I am going to be brought back."

"My name is Granga," said the lizard. "What's yours?"

"Andross."

They shook hands.

"Pleasure to meet you Andross. There's plenty of work to do."

"Well then," said Andross slyly. "Let's get started, Granga."


End file.
